Ronnie McFall unhappy with Glentoran’s attitude

Glentoran's John Herron opens the scoring during Saturday's game at Milltown. Photo Andrew Mccarroll/Pacemaker Press

Published:09:47

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Although Glentoran’s unbeaten run remained intact following Saturday’s draw with Warrenpoint on Saturday, manager Ronnie McFall was none too happy with the attitude he saw from his men in the second half.

The hosts were reduced to ten men at the start of the second half, but managed to grab a share of the spoils much to McFall’s annoyance.

“Warrenpoint always try and play football and they always give you a hard time,” said McFall. “There are no easy games coming down here and we knew that at the start.

“I thought we started well. We went one up and I thought we had chances to go two or three up but once they went down to 10 men we just stopped playing. It was just a psychological thing which doesn’t make me feel too happy.

“The game was there to be won there’s no doubt about that and we have to look at it as three points dropped. But a lot of teams come down here and go away with nothing.

“I thought at times our defence looked a bit ragged, in the second half especially and we paid the price. But I’ve said many times before it’s a work in progress. We’re not going to turn things around in one season. There’s no question about that.

“The players that we’ve brought in have been a big asset there’s no question about that. I thought [Christopher Paul] Gallagher came on today and did really well for us and as I said we should be progressing and looking to take it on to the next step.

“To do that we’ll need to bring in more players. There are areas we’re definitely short on.”

Warrenpoint Town boss Stephen McDonnell had a different perspective on the game and while he was delighted to put another point on the board, he was disappointed that yet again a set play left them chasing the game.

“In the first half we flattered to deceive,” he said. “We had nothing really to deal with from a defensive point of view, but they scored from a set play which is disappointing because we do a lot of work on set pieces. We weren’t really cut open at any stage of the game.

“In the second half there was only one team in it. We played the right way and were relentless.

“Even when we went down to 10, we made a slight tactical change and went three at the back. We introduced two offensive players in the final third, [Alan O’Sullivan and Ciaran O’Connor].

“But we should have come away with three points even though we went down to 10 men and were a goal down.

“It shows tremendous character. That’s three results on the bounce. We were worthy of a win today and last week. But the main thing is that we stopped the rot of defeats. We’ve had four positive results in the last three weeks.

“The guys are really stepping up now. They have a clear understanding of what is expected of them as individuals before they bring it together collectively as a team. It only takes one chink in the chain to break it all down, but I think we have them all singing off the same hymn sheet at the moment.

“Let’s not forget Glentoran are flying this year and we’ve really put them to the sword here,” said the manager who also praised his bench saying: “O’Connor and Donnelly combined last week for the goal too. They’re coming off and making an impact.

“We just felt we went a bit flat after we went down to 10 and you have an opportunity to tweak it. We had nothing to lose at that stage.

“We were in a losing position and down to 10 men, so we thought we could maybe impose ourselves on them further up the field, so we went with the two offensive decisions and it’s paid off. I certainly don’t think it was two points lost though,” he admitted.